Daily Darwin

[{"type":"text","text":"Getting ready for tailgating season in Buffalo..."}]

Darwin 4 30 23

Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>Daily Darwin: Sunday, April 30, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Getting ready for tailgating season in Buffalo!

Daily Darwin: Sunday, April 30, 2023

 Getting ready for tailgating season in Buffalo...

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's managing editor, Greg Johnson.

Greg Johnson

Crime & Courts

Courts

A 41-year-old Cody woman who was arrested Wednesday after a 

 with local police was allegedly taking a haul of collectible coins and firearms from the house of her late grandparents.

Dawn Blaylock had her first appearance in Cody Circuit Court on Friday, and charged with felony aggravated burglary, criminal trespass, interference with a peace officer, reckless endangerment and property damage.

The standoff was the culmination of a monthslong family dispute over a trust created to handle the estate of a family member, says an affidavit of probable cause written by Cody Police Detective Tyler Eubanks.

Another family member has control of the trust, but Blaylock claimed she was the legal owner of the coins and firearms, and that they were stolen from her. So, she was taking them back when confronted in the home by the Cody Police Department.

“Dawn claimed that the guns, coins and other valuable pieces within the home were stolen from her,” Eubanks wrote.

She also admitted using a rock to break a window to get into the house on Wednesday, the affidavit says.

On Thursday, Blaylock’s vehicle was searched, which was still at the home of the late family members, where police found a cache of weapons and other valuable items. Those include:

• A Winchester Model 101 over/under shotgun with three barrel assemblies.

[{"type":"text","text":"• The frame of a 1911 handgun."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"• More than 1,000 rounds of ammunition."}]

“Officers found hundreds of dollars in coins also,” the affidavit says, adding there also were “more than 100 coins in protective plastic and paper cases which appeared as if they were valuable.”

Some of the items found in her vehicle “were identical” to things the family member in charge of the trust had documented as having been taken more than a week prior.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘I Don’t Want To Answer That Right Now’"}]

Along with aggravated burglary, which is an elevated charge because she used a weapon during the standoff, Blaylock also was found in possession of suspected illegal drugs, the affidavit says.

“I asked Dawn what she was doing before she went to the house,” Eubanks wrote. “Dawn stated she was drinking and smoking a bowl, which I knew is a slang phrase for smoking marijuana.”

When asked if she smoked any drugs other than marijuana, Blaylock hesitated.

“Yeah, I don’t want to answer that right now,” she said, according to the affidavit. “I don’t want to stay in this jail any longer than I have to. I’d like to talk to a lawyer before I talk to anyone.

“I want to help you; can I say that first and foremost. I want to tell you everything that I know … but I don’t want to screw me so much that I can’t ever get out of here to see my kids again. Does that make sense?”

Blaylock landed on the CPD’s radar about three weeks earlier when the family member reported that trust assets were being illegally disposed of by Blaylock, the affidavit says.

He reported that she had allegedly been selling and pawning coins and firearms that were owned by her late grandfather, but that he was the only person legally able to dispose of the property under the trust.

“Over the course of the next couple weeks, (the man) had begun tracking down the property which Dawn had given away or sold,” the affidavit says. “These items are assets of the trust and were stored in the residence.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Standoff"}]

It was 1:20 p.m. Wednesday when the CPD alerted area residents of an active law-enforcement situation in the 700 block of Meadow Lane Avenue near the Olive Glenn Golf Course, police report.

Several streets in the area were blocked by vehicles from multiple responding law enforcement agencies, including the CPD’s ballistic armored tactical transport vehicle, or “bearcat.”

When officers arrived at the house, they observed a broken window and a large rock about 3 feet away, the affidavit says.

[{"type":"text","text":"When they entered the house, Blaylock was located in the master bathroom."}]

“Dawn expressed she was armed and refused to come out,” Eubanks wrote. “Law enforcement used a remote camera to look under the door and verified Dawn did have a firearm.”

She was advised “multiple times” she was under arrest, and was ultimately taken into custody after about four hours of negotiations.

After that is when the family member in charge of the trust was able to get into the house and verify missing items, including collectible coins, a statue of a puma, and about 20 firearms.

If convicted of the most serious charge, the felony aggravated burglary, Blaylock could get between five and 25 years in prison, a fine of up to $50,000, or both.

At her initial court appearance Friday, a preliminary hearing on her charges was set for July 6.

Standoff 2 6 24 26

<title>Police Say Cody Woman In Four-Hour Standoff Was Taking Coins, Guns From Home | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Cody woman in a four-hour standoff Wednesday was allegedly taking collectible coins and firearms from the house of her late grandparents, police say. She “claimed that the guns, coins and other valuable pieces were stolen from her,” the CPD reports.

Police Say Cody Woman In Four-Hour Standoff Was Taking Coins, Guns From Home

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Politics

A Wyoming crackdown on the use of the Republican National Committee’s elephant logo is rippling through this year’s election season discourse.

The Common Sense Republicans for Wyoming started a political action committee (PAC) in March to combat the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, which is a controversial and populist-leaning group of state House Republicans.

The PAC has raised six billboards across larger Wyoming towns urging people to “STOP The Freedom Caucus Agenda” and vote in the Aug. 18 primary election.

The billboards show a red, white and blue cartoon elephant in the bottom left corner.

The Wyoming Republican Party issued a warning safeguarding the national party’s logo via public statement Monday, saying, “Many candidates have removed the trademarked elephant from their materials at the request of the Wyoming Republican Party because of trademark licensing agreements.”

“Those candidates and candidate committees who have not removed it,” the statement continues, “are at risk of potential legal actions from the Republican National Committee for violations of trademark law.”

The elephant logo belongs to the Republican National Committee (RNC). The Wyoming Republican Party has an agreement to use it but that doesn’t extend to candidates, candidate committees or PACs, interim Wyoming GOP executive director Ginger Bennett told Cowboy State Daily in a Friday text message.

Scott Ortiz and Emily Madden, both Casper-based attorneys, co-founded Common Sense Republicans for Wyoming. They’re both registered Republicans and have been since at least 2012 when the office’s new registration system was installed, the Natrona County Clerk’s Office confirmed Friday.

Ortiz told Cowboy State Daily in a Friday phone interview that the group doesn’t have a bone to pick with the RNC and will happily alter its billboard imagery in the coming days.

Ortiz said he believes the PAC’s use of the elephant likely falls under “good-faith exceptions” that would allow the PAC to use it.

“And I’ve dealt directly with the RNC,” said Ortiz. “I told them, we’ll gladly change that when those contracts expire. And they said that’s fine… I don’t want to fight with the RNC. I’m a Republican.”

Ortiz added: “the Freedom Caucus just hates our billboards because they’re having to explain what their agenda is.”

Debra Gaylen, sales manager for the Wyoming-based Lamar advertising, emphasized in a Friday phone interview that Lamar is “just the billboard company” and takes no political stance.

After a brief exchange, Common Sense Republicans informed Lamar it had changed its logo, Gaylen recalled.

The PAC has arranged for the billboard company to plaster “snipes” or cover-up graphics featuring a buffalo onto the sign, and that process is underway, said Gaylen.

[{"type":"text","text":"Elephants Everywhere"}]

Former Rep. Tony Niemiec, who’s running in the Republican primary to win his Green River-based House seat back from Rep. Marlene Brady, said he had to buy American flag stickers to cover up his elephant this year, though he’s used it in the past.

“From what I understand, the state party is getting this from the RNC,” said Niemiec. He voiced surprise at that, saying that along highways and yards in Utah, “there’s hundreds and hundreds of yard signs” bearing the elephant logo.

Former House Speaker Albert Sommers, of Pinedale, is also running an effort to win his old House seat back in the GOP primary.

He asked Wyoming GOP Chair Bryan Miller and then-executive director Kathy Russell on April 27 whether he was “good” to use a modified elephant logo on the signs his wife had designed, Sommers’ emails show. Miller responded that day he’d forward the request to the RNC state team.  

Miller texted Sommers on May 7 saying the RNC state party strategy director specified that only the state party could use the elephant logo.

By then, Sommers told Cowboy State Daily on Friday, he’d ordered and distributed campaign signs with the modified elephant. He’d also used the elephant in years past, and had believed that the true RNC logo depicted an elephant inside a circle, while his elephants did not.

Sommers’ wife had downloaded the elephant for her design from a professional stock photo website, “and we bought the license for the image,” he noted.

He spent “well over $1,000” to order American flag stickers to cover the elephants, said Sommers.

“It’s kind of interesting because we have a license that says we can use that image. But nonetheless, I wanted to be street legal,” Sommers said.

Miller told Sommers the RNC has been “cracking down for three cycles now, moving toward defending the brand at all levels.”

A Sheridan County group received a cease and desist letter in the last election cycle, Miller added, according to screenshots of the text message exchange. “It’s not a new issue, just being enforced more openly,” added the chair.

Sommers told Cowboy State Daily that Miller was “very professional.” 

Retired Marine Col. Brent Bien’s campaign team is more confident about its Shutterstock license to depict elephants than Sommers’ team. Bien's elephant rears upward. 

“Yes, we did have to address the issue,” said Bien’s campaign outreach manager Cheryl Aguiar in a Friday email. “We have some old signs out there – from 2022 – that (have) an elephant that is ‘more similar’ to the trademarked one, but still not the same.”

Aguiar said the team wasn’t required to change those signs since the elephant is “pretty different.”

“Our new elephant for the 2026 signs… is 

, plus, we purchased the license for it from Shutterstock and I own the license.”

Aguiar said she sent the party the Shutterstock license and, “They can't argue with that one!”

[{"type":"text","text":"The Completely Different Type Of Elephant"}]

Miller told Cowboy State Daily on Friday that he believes Bien’s logo is different enough, but he’s clarifying. Sommers’ was not different enough, Miller added.

“He put yellow stars in it. It’s not different enough. He changed the colors,” said Miller. “The trademark law is very clear. Even similar items to it, you can’t do it.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Bien’s is “a completely different type of elephant.”"}]

Miller noted Bien's Shutterstock license and said that Sommers didn't produce a license, and had said the site took it down. 

Sommers sent Cowboy State Daily his license on Friday. He said he didn't send it to the party "because it really didn't matter. I wasn't gonna fight the party over it." 

Rep. Steve Johnson, R-Cheyenne, is campaigning with the image of an elephant rearing upward.

Miller said he’ll look into that one, and hadn’t heard of it as of Friday.

Common Sense Republicans for Wyoming, however, became the subject of multiple complaints to the secretary of state’s office, said Miller. 

Miller said the Wyoming GOP leadership is separate from the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.

Often people conflate the two. Their policy objectives bear many similarities.

Commonsense republicans 6 26 26

<title>Wyoming Republican Party Cracking Down On Use Of Official RNC Elephant Logo | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Common Sense Republicans for Wyoming group says they will alter their billboards after the Wyoming Republican Party warned it could be a violation to use the official GOP elephant logo. They aren't alone — other candidates and groups are doing the same.

Wyoming Republican Party Cracking Down On Use Of Official RNC Elephant Logo

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

CASPER — More than a year after a masked confrontation at a local apartment erupted into a 

, prosecutors allege the woman who drove three people to the scene knew what was about to happen.

Nevaeh Marie Neemann, 22, has been charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and accessory before the fact to aggravated assault for her alleged role in the May 11, 2025, shooting at the Foxhill Apartments.

The shooting left 20-year-old Anicio Bernard dead and 20-year-old Colton Robb critically wounded.

Investigators say Robb was targeted because Neemann's boyfriend, Jadin Triplett, believed he had stolen his Glock 26 handgun.

Neemann was arrested this week and made her initial appearance Thursday in Natrona County Circuit Court before Judge Cynthia Sweet. 

A 14-page probable cause affidavit filed by Casper Police Sgt. Andrea Husted paints a detailed picture of months of investigation involving cellphone downloads, Facebook messages, recorded conversations and witness interviews.

Investigators allege Neemann wasn't simply behind the wheel — she knowingly helped carry out a plan that spiraled into a fatal gunfight.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Something Bad ...'"}]

The affidavit shows that Triplett believed Robb had stolen his Glock after visiting the apartment Triplett shared with Neemann in early May 2025.

Rather than reporting the firearm stolen, investigators say Triplett set out to recover it himself.

Triplett posted on Facebook offering $500 for information leading to the gun's return and exchanged messages with friends about confronting Robb.

Detectives also recovered messages showing Bernard asking Triplett whether he had an extra ski mask hours before the shooting.

Investigators say the plan evolved into confronting Robb at the Foxhill Apartments, where he had been staying with relatives.

Neemann admitted driving Bernard, Triplett and Adriana Sanchez to the apartment complex.

Before arriving, she told detectives Bernard removed a pistol from a bag and tucked it into his waistband.

[{"type":"text","text":"She also admitted Triplett had a firearm with him."}]

As the group approached the building, Bernard and Triplett pulled ski masks over their faces.

Neemann told investigators she immediately realized "something bad was going to happen."

According to the affidavit, she understood the plan was for Bernard and Triplett to beat Robb up and recover Triplett's stolen handgun.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Give Me Your’ Stuff"}]

Investigators say Bernard chambered a round while walking toward the apartment.

After someone inside opened the door, Bernard immediately pointed his gun at Robb and yelled, "Give me your shit, give me all your shit."

Robb drew his own handgun, according to court records, and the two men exchanged gunfire inside the apartment.

Neemann told detectives Triplett also pointed a gun at Robb and attempted to fire, but it appeared to jam.

Bernard was struck during the exchange and staggered out of the apartment before collapsing on the stairs outside.

Neemann said she believed she watched Bernard take his last breath after he told the others to run.

Robb survived after suffering a gunshot wound that investigators say struck his heart and gallbladder, requiring emergency surgery before he was flown to Colorado for additional treatment.

The charging document shows nobody riding in Neemann's vehicle called 911.

Instead, investigators say Neemann drove Sanchez away before returning home with Triplett.

There, she told detectives they gathered Triplett's firearms and asked one of his coworkers to take possession of them because Triplett had become suicidal following the shooting.

[{"type":"text","text":"Police later recovered those weapons."}]

Investigators also searched Neemann's maroon Chevrolet Impala, where they found ammunition, magazines, and receipts for firearm-related purchases.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Digital Trail"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Much of the case relies on digital evidence gathered over the past year."}]

Detectives obtained search warrants for cellphones and reviewed Facebook Messenger conversations, FaceTime calls, GPS data and social media posts.

Among the evidence cited in the affidavit are messages showing Bernard and Triplett discussing getting the gun back, Bernard requesting an extra ski mask, and Bernard speaking with Robb just hours before the shooting.

Investigators say Bernard and Robb mentioned drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana together and a mutual friend's bond money during a FaceTime call shortly before the confrontation.

Police also reviewed recordings made after the shooting with participants discussing what had happened inside the apartment.

One recording captured Triplett saying they knocked on the door; Bernard entered first and demanded property before gunfire erupted, according to court documents.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Conflicting Stories"}]

Nearly everyone interviewed agreed on one point: Bernard entered the apartment wearing a ski mask.

[{"type":"text","text":"Beyond that, accounts differed."}]

Some witnesses told police they believed the group only intended to recover the stolen gun. Others described what sounded like an armed robbery after Bernard demanded Robb hand over all of his belongings.

[{"type":"text","text":"Triplett himself gave investigators multiple versions of events."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Initially, he insisted he never pulled the trigger."}]

Later, he admitted pointing his gun at Robb and attempting to fire before realizing the safety was still engaged.

He also acknowledged continuing with the plan after seeing Bernard armed because he didn't want to "be a bitch" or back out.

 with felony accessory before the fact to aggravated assault and battery in connection with the shooting. His case remains pending.

Based on interviews, cellphone evidence and Neemann's own statements, Sgt. Husted concluded there was probable cause to charge Neemann with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and accessory before the fact to aggravated assault.

Neeman will next appear in Circuit Court for a preliminary hearing within about 10 days. Judge Sweet set bond at $25,00 cash or surety. 

Nevaeh Marie Neemann 6 26 26

<title>Casper Woman Charged With Driving Getaway Car After Fatal Apartment Shooting | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Casper woman has been arrested and was in court Thursday, accused of driving the getaway car in an ambush-style apartment shooting more than a year ago that left one man dead. Police say she knew “something bad” was about to go down at the time.

Casper Woman Charged With Driving Getaway Car After Fatal Apartment Shooting

Prosecutors claim that a Fremont County BLM law enforcement officer accused of killing another man during a January bar fight didn’t act responsibly to protect others, and instead “advances like a predator” before applying a deadly chokehold.

That characterization of how Richard “Deak” Dollard acted on the evening of Jan. 9 during a brawl at the Maverick Bar in Lander is included in a Thursday prosecution response to a motion from Dollard’s attorney to dismiss the second-degree murder charge he faces.

The June 8 motion filed by Casper-based defense attorney Ryan Semerad argues Richard Dollard can’t be prosecuted “for his proper use of reasonable defensive force to protect others.”

Those others include Dollard’s brother, Justin, and nephew, Jesse, who were both involved in a physical fight with 38-year-old Evan Denevan.

Denevan was fighting with Justin when Richard came into the room and pulled Denevan off his brother, putting him in a restraining hold that prosecutors refer to as a “chokehold” in court documents, but the defense adamantly denies any choking pressure was applied.

What both sides seem to agree on is what was captured on multiple cellphone videos and bar surveillance is Richard holding Denevan around his face and neck area for about 30 seconds, then putting him on the floor.

He died at the scene, according to court documents.

In his motion to dismiss, Semerad argues that Denevan was the aggressor and that Richard acted calmly and with restraint to protect his brother and others from danger.

Only after someone at the bar called out multiple times for Denevan to stop “did Richard step in, taking hold of Evan to pull him away from Justin, the woman, and the crowd of bar patrons standing within punching distance,” the motion to dismiss says.

“I don’t believe my client was angry or emotional,” Semerad told Cowboy State Daily on Friday. “I think he saw the situation and his mentality was not anger or emotion, it was, ‘How do I protect everyone in this situation from being hurt.’”

That’s not what the evidence and witnesses show, prosecutors allege in their response.

“The defendant advances like a predator — he appears to know his goal when he enters the room and he advances unchecked upon the same,” according to the response. “He advances intentionally and deliberately.”

Semerad called the description of his client as a “predator” in the response as “pure rhetoric” and an attempt to “try to characterize this encounter” as something it wasn’t.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Reasonable Force’"}]

That Richard Dollard only applied a non-lethal hold on Denevan is clearly “not the case” based on video and other evidence, prosecutors say. Most notably, if the hold was non-lethal, why did he die?

“Although the defendant’s claim is that he gripped the decedent in a non-lethal hold meant to control the situation, the video makes it quite clear that this is not the case,” the response to the motion to dismiss says.

“The hold is lethal by self-definition of the circumstances,” the document adds.

Conversely, Semerad said it’s murky at best about what caused Denevan to die that night, as there were other potential health issues that may have contributed to his death.

“There seems to be some kind of disconnect” in what really caused his death, Semerad said. “He perceived the decedent attacking his brother … and there were people in harm’s way. 

“He came over to protect everybody with the use of reasonable force.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"That Night"}]

An evidentiary affidavit by a Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agent filed days after the incident in Lander Circuit Court describes a brawl which at one point contained eight to 10 people, unfolding at the Maverick Bar around 11 p.m. on Jan. 9.

A 911 caller beckoned Lander Police Department officers to the scene at around 11:15 p.m. 

The caller indicated “we have someone down at the Maverick Bar, he’s not breathing, he’s all purple,” says the affidavit.

LPD officers arrived and found Denevan lying on his back near the pool tables with bystanders trying to help him, the document says.

Officers began life-saving measures, but later noted that the man’s face was “slightly purple in color” and they weren’t able to find a carotid pulse. Fremont County emergency medical personnel arrived as well to help, but “Denevan was determined to be deceased,” says the affidavit.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"LPD secured the bar as a crime scene."}]

Initial witness statements reportedly describe a fight between Denevan and the three Dollard men.

Justin Dollard in his interview with LPD detectives confirmed he was involved in the fight.

Denevan had previously said he would “whip” Justin, the latter reportedly said, and had threatened to fight both Justin and Jesse Dollard.

Denevan had yelled at the Dollard father and son, “If you come over here, I will kick your ass,” the affidavit relates.

Then, according to Justin’s interview and Jesse’s separate interview, Denevan removed his hat and glasses as if preparing for a fight.

Justin Dollard told detectives he approached Denevan, who came back and hit him, “and the fight broke out,” the affidavit relates. 

Along with Richard facing a charge of second-degree murder, Justin has been charged with accessory before the fact to second-degree murder, and Jesse with accessory before the fact to manslaughter.

If convicted, Richard and Justin face 20 years to life in prison, while Jesse could get a maximum of 20 years in prison.

All three have been set for a combined trial that’s scheduled for eight days beginning Nov. 2.

Dollards and Maverick bar 2 3 26

<title>Lander Man Wants Murder Charge Dismissed, Says Force In Bar Fight ‘Reasonable’ | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Lander man facing a second-degree murder charge for a fatal January bar brawl wants the charge dismissed, saying he used “reasonable” force. Prosecutors disagree, saying he “advances like a predator” on the victim in a Thursday response.

Lander Man Wants Murder Charge Dismissed, Says Force In Bar Fight ‘Reasonable’

Wyoming Life

For much of the week, the southeast corner of Wyoming sat beneath a series of severe thunderstorm and tornado watches as forecasters warned of damaging winds and isolated twisters.

For many Wyomingites, especially those living around Cheyenne, the warnings were nothing new.

For much of the week, the southeast corner of Wyoming had a series of tornado watches and warnings. While tornadoes grab the headlines, residents know the real menace is monster hail. "We're where the storms like to start," said meteorologist Colby Goatley.

Daily Darwin: Sunday, April 30, 2023

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